


in the middle of the world

by ladydawn



Category: TWRP | Tupper Ware Remix Party (Band)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-27
Updated: 2017-03-27
Packaged: 2018-10-11 20:41:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10473975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladydawn/pseuds/ladydawn
Summary: Lord Phobos goes to the aquarium and finds friends.





	

Lord Phobos woke up late in the morning, much later than he would have normally. He got up, stretched, and made a point to look out his window into the jungle of the backyard.

It was uncharacteristically quiet in the house. He changed into a t-shirt and overalls.

He walked downstairs and found no one. There was a note on the dining room table, folded in half as a triangle, with his name facing outward. He opened it, and instantly recognized the bold, half-neat half-messy writing.

_LP,_

_Meouch went out and so did Havve. I don’t know where exactly they went. I’m gone to the museum, apparently there’s a new cool moon rock we have. Humans are cool, hey?_

_There’s eggs and I replaced the water in the electric kettle so have your tea and everything!!_

_I’ll be home in the afternoon sometime._

_Doc_

Lord Phobos felt fine to be alone but without the three others in the house, it felt too big and too empty. It left him and (D)Angus alone, and the cat almost immediately ran to him when he saw him and started making circles around his legs. Phobos bent without thinking and started petting him.

He ate an egg with some toast and tea while reading the paper left on the table. He then grabbed his gardening tools and began to water the plants in the backyard.

He took care of the bushes and flowers in the front yard.

It’d been less than an hour. He stood with his hands on his hips in the middle of the house after tidying up.

the hell do i do now?

He saw a pamphlet on the fridge. He grabbed his backpack and skateboard from the mud room. 

He began to make his way to the aquarium. The trucks were probably a bit loose, and he rolled fast and loud.

After paying and debating on the gift shop, he walked into the mouth of the main portion of the aquarium with a seahorse hat that strapped around his chin.

Lord Phobos felt like he was in the middle of the world. He felt like time had stopped, and maybe it had; he wouldn’t know. The light was ambiguous here and time meant nothing.

A nurse shark swam past him and he just watched in awe.

He looked up and saw all these little colourful fish. Rocks and coral surrounded him on either side. He continued to walk through the aquarium, slowly, biding his time through the cylindrical structure. His feet in his slip-on shoes made very little sound, and he could hear every little movement of the fish in the tank.

He stopped and stared at some anemones. One looked white-purple, with a bit of green. He raised one of his hands and looked between them. They both almost glowed. It nearly made him believe the stories he’d heard as a kid, about his people traveling the far reaches of the galaxy, that maybe still here, he had a connection to his home.

He got closer and the anemone laid a tendril on the glass, as if it called to him. He placed his pointer finger to the glass. Then, a clown fish swam out, and Lord Phobos jumped back, clutching his chest. Thankfully the only thing that had seen him jump were the cameras.

A lionfish stared at him from a few feet away.

you remind me of a friend.

The lionfish still stared. It blubbed in response.

he’s a bit less spiky, though. unless you count metaphorically.

The lionfish swam in a circle.

he’s a softy.

The lionfish snapped at another fish.

you’re a mean little thing, huh? i read your plaque.

The lionfish went back to staring at Lord Phobos.

it’s okay. you’re just trying to protect your territory. it happens.

The lionfish swam away.

Next, he saw a bright yellow cichlid, and then a black and white spotted sterlet. Lord Phobos smiled to himself.

He looked down at the map, finding his way around the main winding fish area of the aquarium. Everything was so colourful, and he loved it, so much so that sometimes normally he would feel some sort of overload. But the light that streamed through the water softened the colours, and the windows gave everything a hazy effect.

It felt like walking through a dream.

He emerged on the other side to a partially open-air lounge, and on either side were sea otters and seals. Two small sea otters seemed to be yelling at each other, still holding hands as to not float away. Another was floating along, its hands folded over its stomach.

On the other side, seals were lounging on their rocks. Lord Phobos learned that the males were called bulls and the females cows, and he wondered what the sea otters were called.

Males were called dogs or boars and females were bitches or sows. He continued along his way.

He came to a three-way stop next, to his left was Dolphin Quest, to his right was the Underwater Dome, and ahead were amphibians. All three sounded excellent, but he chose to go to the amphibians first.

It was almost all lizards that hid when he came to the glass. Which was fine with him; they needed to get used to seeing him. He saw enough, though, and a frog had come to greet him, so he was happy.

He walked out and made his way down the slope to the Underwater Dome, where he saw lingcod and salmon. He looked up and around, and it reminded him of the shape of the world. No one else was in there, and he felt relieved - because he gawked, and placed a hand over his chest.

He sat there for a half hour, just craning his neck, looking up at all the fish. When he’d had enough, and it never felt like he was going to have enough, he left (albeit reluctantly) and made his way to Dolphin Quest.

Saving the best name for last.

Reading from his pamphlet, he saw that the three dolphins were being rehabilitated. Their names were Doug, Aerith, and Contessa. And he instantly fell in love. He got there in time for the feeding, and watched as the three devoured their food. They swam around happily.

He made his way back through the aquarium and wanted to stay and look at the seals and sea otters some more.

When he turned around to the sea otters, he saw a woman and a man with a small kid, maybe five earth years old. The child was pointing at the sea otters that were still arguing. Lord Phobos thought he recognized her.

The woman turned around, and her face instantly lit up.

“I remember you!” she said, and the man - what was he to her? - looked between them quizzically. The woman looked back to him. “You never met him - you weren’t even born yet, I don’t think, but back home... This guy crash landed in our front yard!”

Oh. Of all the places to see her again.

She looked older; Earth people always aged so quickly and it was a damn shame. But it was undeniably the girl from the Earth 80s; she had the same face, but had grown into it, and her dark hair had stayed long. She looked nice, for an Earth woman, dressed in what was described as “casual” in a t-shirt and jeans.

And there he was, wearing his uniform of overalls and a t-shirt, and a seahorse hat he’d just bought. And he suddenly felt ridiculous.

“He wore gold and red. I remember that, he was like a spaceman from Dad’s movies,” she said, still speaking to her brother. “I remember the silver streak across the sky - I swear, I thought it was a meteor - but it was them.”

She turned back to Lord Phobos and he saw her t-shirt was an official looking NASA shirt. “You all inspired me to pursue astronomy,” she said, quieter, just to him.

Lord Phobos smiled. Humans were so amazing, trying to understand everything. Their pure pursuit of knowledge was something he, and his friends, had admired since they learned about them.

She walked up to him and held his free hand. She turned it over in her hands. “You look the same,” she said.

you do, too.

She gasped. A lot of people reacted like that to Phobos’s talking. “We must be so adorable,” she said. “Us humans, to you guys. Our efforts must seem futile to you.”

on the contrary. you’re astonishing.

She smiled. “Can I hug you?” she asked.

Lord Phobos nodded, and they embraced. He couldn’t imagine how it must have felt to such a young Earth child, to have spacemen crash on your lawn, to live among them, and then to be inspired by them? His eyes started to fill, and he hadn’t felt that in a while. He quickly swiped at his eyes.

They broke apart, and she held him by his upper arms, looking at his outfit. “Do you like the Earth styles?” she asked.

Lord Phobos nodded. It’s nice, and convenient, he said.

The young kid had been staring at them for their entire conversation. “Oh!” the woman said. “This is my daughter, Miranda.” She swept a hand towards the kid.

i’m lord phobos, he said to her, shaking her hand. i like your name.

“I like yours!’ Miranda responded in kind.

“What the hell is goin’ on?” the brother finally piped up.

lord phobos, he said.

The brother shook his head. “No, like... you’re from space? Where?” he asked.

fifth dimension. have you ever been?

“No, I haven’t!”

There were the two reactions: utterly enthralled and utterly stressed. It would shake someone’s world loose when they realize they share the universe with some iridescent being in a seahorse hat.

“Are you guys... good?”

we are. my people and the rest of my band. there are some that are no good, and we try our best to protect people.

“You’re our protectors?”

we’re everyone’s protectors.

“Lord Phobos.”

yes.

“You’re a lord.”

A beat.

yes.

“And you live here now?”

yes.

The brother threw up his arms and turned back to the sea otters.

“I’m Natasha, by the way,” she said, and after thirty years of not knowing her name, Lord Phobos finally knew. “I came here because I was visiting - my fiance, she’s still home, and I wanted to take Miranda to this place I came to a lot as a kid.”

Lord Phobos nodded. i came here because i like fish, he replied.

Natasha smiled. “My brother’s name is Francis,” she said. The Francis stood arms akimbo looking at the sea otters.

that’s a good name. it’s good to see you’re still coming around.

“I’m glad to see you’re still around,” Natasha said. “Should we be letting you go, now?”

Miranda started pulling at Natasha’s shirt hem. Natasha pulled the girl close. “Yeah, we’ll go. I think it’s been enough for Frank, too,” she said. “Thanks for everything.”

thank you, Lord Phobos replied.

Natasha and Miranda walked away, but Francis stayed and looked again at Lord Phobos. “You’re good?” he asked again.

Lord Phobos made one line across his stomach and one more the opposite way. cross my heart, he said.

Francis smiled in the way where you could tell he was struggling, and Lord Phobos figured if he’d seen him twenty-something years ago as a kid, he would have been fine now. Whichever way, Francis still raised a hand to say goodbye, and Lord Phobos did, too.

He continued to look at the sea otters and the way they held hands.

**Author's Note:**

> i wanted the little girl to make an appearance.  
> thanks.


End file.
